This invention relates to head supports in general, and more particularly pertains to a head support for use with swings, strollers, conventional car seats and infant carrier/car seats.
The need for a head support for infants and toddlers is well established in the prior art. In general, several different types of head support designs are known which share a common purpose in providing support for the head of a premature baby, an infant or a toddler when the infant or toddler is installed in a conventional car seat, a combination infant carrier/car seat, a swing, a stroller or other devices used to transport infants and toddlers. Some head supports are designed and dimensioned to be suitable for use with only infants; others are designed and dimensioned to be suitable for use only with toddlers. Still others represent attempts to provide a head support suitable for use with both infants and toddlers.
The first two types of head support, while useful, have limited utility specific to the size of the child, and are not designed for a premature baby. Thus, a head support designed for use with an infant cannot be used safely with a toddler and vice-versa. This often requires the purchase of two different head supports by a parent over an approximate four-year span, which is uneconomical. Head supports which have been designed for use with both infants and toddlers typically contain separate add-on components to expand the dimensions of the support, several individually adjustable elements in order to provide the dimensional adjustments, or both. Ideally, a head support designed for both infants and toddlers, as well as premature babies, should be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and exceedingly simple to install and adjust to the size of the child.